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Dayforce HCM vs SAP SuccessFactors vs Workday HCM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of Dayforce HCM is 2.5%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP SuccessFactors is 8.8%, down from 19.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Workday HCM is 9.7%, down from 18.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud HCM Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Workday9.7%
SAP SuccessFactors8.8%
Dayforce HCM2.5%
Other79.0%
Cloud HCM
 

Featured Reviews

TracyBritan - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, Learning & Development at Ampersand
Frustrating support and difficult customization prevent optimal use of learning system
Customizing the home screen was difficult; I could not remove certain tabs that were irrelevant to our users. The search functionality is poor as there's no way for administrators to tag keywords to training courses, making it hard for people to find content. Additionally, there is no way to send a direct link to training if someone asks about it. The reporting is subpar; you can only report by course and not by person unless you go into specific Dayforce reports, which do not match the fields in the learning module. The support is also terrible, with slow response times and a lack of useful knowledge-based articles.
SS
Assistant Manager at Kashiv Biosciences
HR has gained clear analytics for attrition, goals, and appraisals and manages talent efficiently
SAP SuccessFactors has a low error rate. We had many ad hoc reports that we needed to generate, and it was very easy to do so in SAP SuccessFactors. We also created many in-house reports according to our specific requirements with the help of this tool, which was a really big game changer for us. We did not depend on advanced Excel in those cases. We generated a lot of detailed reports whenever we needed them during emergency cases or board meetings. A lot of usefulness and time were saved in those cases. I will also mention that we conducted a comparative study for some recruitment cases. We had a recruitment model where we were looking for a very niche profile. Since the job profile was really different and rare, we had to depend on analytics to understand and shortlist from a large pool of candidates that we already had in our database. Analytics was really helpful in this situation.
Eslam Abo Elnaga - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior people and systems analyst at B_labs & Mylo
Has improved HR process efficiency through intuitive workflows and responsive support
There is something that could be improved in Workday, specifically in the time tracking module. While I am not working on Workday now, I was a regional HRIS working for Egypt, Malta, India, and China. I mention these countries to relate to high population countries and companies. In our company, we use assigned work schedules for our teams. Because we work with the time tracking module, we need to assign shifts. In the manufacturing industry, we might need to change shifts every day or week. Manufacturing teams are huge, approximately 50 to 200 people in one team. If this team has one leader, the leader needs to assign a work schedule for each person individually. While there is mass upload functionality where we can load shifts for all people or specific groups, we need to select multiple people and assign them to a schedule from the interface itself. I have requested this functionality many times. When extracting business processes awaiting actions report, I can select different processes in one box, hit okay, and the report comes up. However, the same functionality does not work for work schedule assigning. If implemented, it would help many people in companies with high populations and big teams.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Ceridian Dayforce HCM is a stable product."
"We have been able to automate many of our manual processes."
"The initial setup is easy."
"We like being able to hire from the Dayforce recruiting module straight into Dayforce and having the file feeds go to our benefits vendor."
"It has created efficiencies in HR and Payroll by eliminating double entry into two systems, implementing a time clock feature for hourly employees, and by having a downloadable general ledger (G/L) constructing journal entering for payroll."
"It provides real-time information with great reports."
"Great time and attendance payroll and benefits administration which has improved our efficiency."
"We needed a comprehensive HR software solution, and we found it with Ceridian Dayforce."
"The overall interface is easy and user-friendly."
"It's brought to our organization a big big improvement. We would give it a good rating."
"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten...It is a stable solution."
"The most valuable feature of SAP SuccessFactors is that it is a full suite of applications to enable your employees. Additionally, it has good integration with S4 HANA. Our payroll solution is from SAP and the integration becomes much easier when using SAP SuccessFactors."
"What I appreciate most about SAP SuccessFactors is that it has all the modules in one platform. SAP SuccessFactors is the best option in the market for HR use cases. I also find the solution user-friendly."
"This solution has automatic linking and reporting features. Upgrades are hassle-free because you don't need to change everything from scratch, when compared to Meta4."
"One of the most valuable features of this solution is the performance management workflow."
"The interface is really useful and it's very easy to combine different information, for example, we can easily get reports that we need and it's very easy to create reports."
"With this solution, it's really nice; all of the learning content is there, it's much easier to consume, and I don't feel like I'm jumping around between different platforms."
"The most valuable feature of Workday is the ease of use which is overall user-friendly."
"There is a lot to like about it. I really enjoy the business process framework. It's something that's really seamless. It allows you to have people within the flow. They get assigned a task to complete something to approve, etc. That's a really good piece of functionality that Workday offers. Their out-of-the-box reporting framework is also really powerful in terms of what it provides. These would be two things that I would highlight."
"First time users, understanding accessibility and consolidated data is fairly easy. The solution improves productivity for users and reduces the need to switch between different tools."
"The scalability is amazing."
"The most helpful Workday features for our HR processes were in HCM, particularly in areas like talent, compensation, benefits, and learning."
"The solution was very good at reconfiguration and customization of their software. It helped us to meet federal regulations."
"In terms of customization, while it may not be fully customizable, you can configure the features based on the foundation that Workday offers. This allows you to take the basic features and tailor them to the specific needs of your company or business. It provides a lot of configuration flexibility."
 

Cons

"The product they sell you is not the end product. Many things are presented as though they will be included with the system but then require costly upgrades."
"One area to be improved is the solution's reporting function, which can be cumbersome."
"The solution's dashboards and geofencing could be improved."
"The solution has a lot of glitches."
"Dayforce has its gaps like every HR system, but nothing comes to mind at the moment."
"The reporting could be improved."
"Management and reporting of the GL costing could be improved."
"I would like to see more built-in forms, like government issued forms (T2200). This would save a lot of time during the year-end process."
"The data management part can be improved in terms of how you can manage data from the HR admin's or HR team's perspective."
"The initial setup could be simplified."
"The reporting tool is not as good as IBM Cognos which is very, very powerful."
"The tool that SAP uses to integrate SuccessFactors into other applications is quite expensive."
"The integration between the recruitment module and employee central is a big problem."
"The graphical user interface (GUI) is not very friendly. On the homepage, it is not possible to place advisories or announcements at the top."
"SAP SuccessFactors can improve the recruitment module and artificial intelligence features. More powerful analytics are needed."
"We would like to see improvement in the initial launch of the product, as it is currently quite slow."
"The dashboard is fine, but the dashboarding and other aspects could be improved."
"Analytical tools have needed improvement. Workday has just released Prism Analytics, to replace the current analytical tools, so it’s in the early stages."
"It's great for operational / detailed reporting and some low-level analytics, but for heavy-duty analysis against large data sets, I find it's a bit lacking."
"In addition to the lost data, the solution is slow to pull up information and I am not sure if this is due to the botched implementation or if it is the solution itself."
"Workday could improve its custom reporting for beginners."
"The product must include payroll features."
"In a future release we could like to have access to asset, supply and treasury management functionalities."
"Workday could improve by adding other features, such as messaging to candidates and other recruiting capabilities that other new-age solutions have."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Ceridian continually enhances Dayforce HCM. Some of these enhancements they charge for and some are just straight enhancements with no extra charge."
"We paid for the implementation costs in the first year with the money that we saved by switching to Dayforce HCM."
"Earlier, the price of the product was reasonable. Under present circumstances, the price or cost of the product has been increased."
"Negotiate for everything you want."
"In terms of pricing, the product is expensive. However, it is crucial to take into account the manner in which the solution will be utilized and the availability of other alternatives."
"I rate the solution's pricing a seven on a scale where one is the lowest and ten is the most expensive."
"The XOXO program associated with Dayforce allows you to earn credits towards registration and accommodations at their annual Insight Conferences, which can be a real savings to the company when sending employees to the conference."
"We found the setup costs and pricing to be very reasonable."
"The price of the solution is highly expensive."
"So now, SAP charges me 300 Euros for 14,000 employees. I still have to pay 2,000 euros because I'm using SAP on-prem."
"The pricing for SuccessFactors is ridiculously high, and there are costs in addition to the license fee for some features."
"For SAP, the product is pricey, both CAPEX and the OPEX. It's something that could be improved."
"We don't utilize even half of the licenses because not everyone uses them. With SAP SuccessFactors, though, we're now conducting all our performance evaluations within the system, so I suppose we're making better use of those licenses. As for SAP for employee services and internal benefits processing, we do have licenses for those but don't utilize them."
"It is not cheap, but it is reasonable."
"I rate the tool's pricing a seven to eight out of ten."
"Due to the way in which we purchased SuccessFactors as a module along with other SAP modules, we were able to procure it at a slightly better price than usual. I would rate their pricing 5/5 stars."
"I would rate the solution’s pricing a six out of ten."
"The pricing for this solution is fairly high. It is not affordable for small and mid-sized companies."
"With a bigger budget, I would recommend SAP."
"The solution’s pricing is better than SAP SuccessFactors."
"It is on a yearly basis."
"It has an annual subscription rate, but I'm not sure how it will work."
"The solution is flexible in terms of pricing."
"I need to pay for a license. It is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise70
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise50
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Ceridian Dayforce HCM?
Customizing the home screen was difficult; I could not remove certain tabs that were irrelevant to our users. The sea...
What is your primary use case for Ceridian Dayforce HCM?
We have used Dayforce HCM for our HR functionalities and for the learning module over the last five years. We actuall...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Ceridian Dayforce HCM?
The Learning Module add-on to Dayforce HCM was relatively inexpensive per user compared to other LMS’s.
What are the biggest differences between Workday, Oracle Cloud and SAP SuccessFactors?
Differences between Workday, Oracle Cloud,w and SAP SuccessFactors:w Oracle: "simple interface and deep customizatio...
What is better, SAP HCM or SAP SuccessFactors?
When it comes to user experience, SuccessFactors is unquestionably superior, as it provides end users with a new expe...
How easy is to maintain Workday, Oracle Cloud, and SuccessFactors?
I implemented Workday in 2024 and without having previous Workday experience, it was very challenging. I spent most o...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Workday?
If you go with the launch implementation approach, the solution is generally not very expensive. If you want to add m...
What needs improvement with Workday?
Workday can be improved in terms of reporting and customization. Sometimes it is difficult to create custom reports a...
What is your primary use case for Workday?
Workday is primarily used for HR operations such as employee data management, payroll processing, leave tracking, and...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Ceridian Dayforce HCM, Ascender Talent Management, Ceridian Ideal
SuccessFactors
Workday Human Capital Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ACCO Brands
City of Cape Town, ADAMA Agricultural Solutions Ltd., TransAlta Corporation, Keolis, PT XL Axiata Tbk, National Football League (NFL), Plan International, Yoh, A Day & Zimmermann Company, China Talent Group (CTG TMO), Umicore S.A., Butterfield Bank, Skril
AAA, Allied Global, Avago Technologies Limited, Aviva, Cardinal Health, CareFusion, Chiquita Brands International, Equifax, Flextronics, HP, Life Time Fitness, McKee Foods, MGM Resorts International, Sanofi, ServiceSource International, Symantec, TripAdvisor, Yahoo!
Find out what your peers are saying about Workday, SAP, Deel and others in Cloud HCM. Updated: June 2026.
906,960 professionals have used our research since 2012.